Automatically-operating flush



(No Model.)

P. H. PARADIOE.

AUTOMATICALLY OPERATING PLUSHING TANKS FOR GLOSETS.

N0. 385,823. Patented July 10, 1888.

INVENTOR,

wmvsssm-I I W 2 BYQMW ATTORNEY,

N. PETERS, Phnlwhthogv'apher. Washmg'ou. l1 C.

U ITED STATES ATENT rrrca FRANK H. PAR-ADIOE, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 385,823, dated July 10,1888 Application filed December 27. 1887. Serial No. 259,102. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, FRANK H. PARADICE, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ofColorado, have invented a new and useful Mechanism for AutomaticallyOperating FlushingT-anks for Closets, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to mechanism for op erating the flushing-tanks forwater-closets and for automatically throwing the same into op erationwhenever and as soon as the seat is relieved of the weight of the user;and its objects are to furnish a simple and reliable1neehanism,controlled automatically from the seat, for giving thenecessary movement to such device in the flushingtank as may be used tostart the discharge therefrom into operation; to which ends it consistsin the features more particularly herei nafter described and claimed.Mechanism by which I attain these ends and embodying my invention isillustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of thisspecification, in which Figure l is a side view of such mechanism; Fig.2, a cross-section on line a" at, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a perspective view ofa detail of construction, and Fig. 4 a top view of a portion of thelever 3 in Fig. 1.

In these figures the referencenumeral 1 indicates the ordinary seat of awater-closet, hinged at the back to the framing 27, the side portions ofthe framing not being shown. Beneath the sideframingis a lever, 3,pivoted near the front of the seatby a pivot, 4, in a lug or bracketsecured on a suitable support beneath the side framing. It is so locatedthereunder that it may work clear of the bowl and also bebroughtin linewith the rod 14, to be hereinafter described. In order to bring thefront and shorter end of the lever beneath the edge of theseat, it isbentjustin advance of the pivot 4, as shown at 28 in Fig. 4. At itsfront end is a slot, 5, engaging with a pin, 7, in an upright arm, 6,whose upper and free end takes beneath the seat 1 and by which it may bedepressed. To lessen friction and give greater ease of movement, aroller, 8, may be placed on pin 7, interposed between it and the wallsof the slot 5. The lever 3 is either made heavy enough at itslonger endor it is weighted thereat sufficiently, as at l], to normally drop atsuch end to the limit of its movement, the 1 other end being elevatedand raising the seat slightlyot'f of its bed, as shown in full lines inFig. 1. At its lower end thelever is provided with a slot, 10, whichtakes upon a pin, 24, projecting from the hook-carrier 14. For ease ofmovement this pin may also be provided with an anti-friction roller, asshown at 25.

Attached to one of the rear supports of the seat or its framing, or toany other suitable support, is a framing for supporting and carrying thereciprocating parts 14 18. Such framing may be the ends 12 and sides 18,14, and 18, passing through and being guided by apertures in 12 12,asshown in Fig. 2. 14 may be termed the hook-carrier, as seated in aslot therein is the hook 15, which is pivoted at its lower end in theslot, so that its upper or hook end may be projected beyond the face of18, opposite to 14, or withdrawn Within the slot, the body of the hookbeing somewhat broader than is the carrier 14-, so that as the hook iswithdrawn into the slot the back projects therefrom, and vice versa. Thebody of the hook is slotted at 16, a pin, 17, passing through 14 andsuch slot. The function of this slot and pin is to limit the movement ofthe hook, which function may be accomplished in many other ways. The topor upper portion of the front and back of this hook should be inclinedor rounded, as shown in-Fig. 3, for a purpose hereinafter mentioned.

Sliding in the apertures formed in 12 12, and contiguous to 14, is thereciprocating piece or slide 18, connected at its upper end by the pullchain or cord 1.) to the devices in a flushing-tank,by which thedischarge from the tank to the bowl is started or controlled. Upon theside or face of 18, adjacent to 14, is a hook, 20, and immediately abovethe same is a cam or cam-face, 21. 18 and 11 are placed at such distanceapart and the projection of 20 upon 18 and of the hook on 15 from 14 socalculated, relatively, that the hook 15, when projected to the limitpermitted it, shall engage or be positioned to engage with 20. Upon theside 13, and at the upper limit of movement of the hookcarrier 14 andjust above the normal position ol'hook 20, a projection, 22, forming acam'i'ace, is arranged, lying in the path of travel of the hook 15.

In a prior application by me, bearing Serial No. 256,150, lilcd November25, 1887, I have shown a water or flushing tank for water-010s ets inwhich the discharge is a siphon, the depression or submergence of afloat to a proper depth in the water raising the level of the water inthe tank suffieiently to throw the siphon into operation and effect theflushing. While the mechanism herein shown and described has beendevised with reference to its use for automatically controlling thedischarge from such tank, and while it is especially valuable, useful,and efficient with that tank, its use is not confined thereto, for it isof great value and use with any other style of tank which it is desiredto operate automatically by a downward pull of a cord or chain when theseat is freed of any extraneous weight, as will be apparent from adescription of the operation of the mechanism.

The operation is as follows: The parts in their normal position are asshown in full lines, the long end of lever at its lower limit, the shortend elevated, raising the seat, and the slide 18 being at its upperlimit of movement. If now weight sufficient be placed upon the seat todepress it-say the weight of a personthe long end of lever 3 is thrownup, carrying with it the hook-carrier 14. As the latter rises, thecurved or inclined back of 15 strikes against 22 and is thrown forwardout of the slot in position to engage with the hook 20, and the partsremain in this position and relation so long as the weight remains onthe seat and the seat is depressed. The weight removed from the seat,the longer and heavy end of the lever falls, raising the seat, bringingdown the hook-carrier 14, and, through the engagement of 15 with 20, theslide-rod 18, this pulling the chain 19, so that the latter pulls onwhatever it may be attached to at its otherend. Afloatoralever,controllingavalve or a float, 18, is arranged to have a somewhat greaterextent of downward motion than 14, so that when 14 is stopped 18 moves adistance farther by momentum. This brings the face of cam 21against thebeveled or curved front of the top of hook 15, throwing it back into theslot and out of position for engagement with 20. 18, with hook 20, isthen raised to its normal position by the action thereon of the float orlever or whatever pull cord or chain 19 may be attached to at its upperend. The normal position of the parts is shown in full lines, while thechanges occurring in op eration are shown in dotted lines.

From this description of the mechanism and its mode of operation it isseen that it is composed of two distinct mechanisms normallydisconnected first, the seat mechanism, as it may be termed,consistingof the lever and attached hook-carrier; second, the pullmechanism,consisting oftheslide with the fixed hook and the attachedpull cord or chain-and that the depression of the seat throws these twodisconnected mechanisms into operative connection, and its raisingcauses them first to operate together, then to separate and resume theirnormal positions and conditions.

In may be deemed desirable in some positions or with some forms offlushing-tanks to have the hook 15 thrown out of position for engagementwith 20 by a positive action thereon without depending upon the momentumof 18 to bring cam-face 18 against 15 therefor. In such case the hookmay be made with a prolongation below its pivot, preferably extendingrearwardly, as shown at 29 in Fig. 3, while upon the lower part of 13 aprojecting or cam face, 28, is fixed, similar to 22 at the top. Then as14 comes down to its normal position the projecting part 27 of 15 willstrike against 28 and thehook bethrown into the slot and out of positionfor connection with 20.

This apparatus forms an efficient and reliable means for theaccomplishment of the ends and objects noted, involving but few parts,so insuring simplicity and economy of construction,while the motivepower used be ing the positively-acting force of gravity only,

at all times to fail in their work is obviated, and danger of gettingout of order and repair or of failure in operation is reduced to aminimum.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combinationof a pivoted lever having its shorter end connected to an arm takingbeneath the seat, a hook-carrier attached to the longer end thereof andcarrying a pivoted hook, a slide connected to the pull cord or chain andcarrying a fixed hook,and camfaces, arranged as described, for throwingthe pivoted and fixed hooks into and out of engagement, substantially asset forth. 7

2. The combination, in or with a suitable framing or support, of theslide carrying a fixed hook and a cam-face or projection above suchhook, a sliding hook-carrier carrying a pivoted hook, a camface upon theframing to throw the pivoted hook forward into position for engagementwith the fixed hook, and a lever having one end attached to thehookearrier and the other attached to an arm beneath the seat,substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a slide connected to the pull cord or chain andcarrying a fixed hook, a hook-carrier connected to the end of a leverand carrying a hook, said book being pivoted on or in its carrier,andprovided with means for limiting its movement, and having its topportion beveled or curved on both front and back edges, canrfaces, asdescribed, for throwing the hooks into and out of engagement, and thelever connected to an arm tak ing beneath the seat, substantially as setforth.

- I11 testimony whereof I havehereunto affixed my signature this 17thday of December, 1887.

FRANK H. PAR ADIOE.

Vitnesses:

Z. F. WILBER, L. S. LULL.

' the use of springs and kindred devices liable

